Angel sat next to Buffy in a chair in Xander and Anya's room. She was still catatonic. He stroked her hand and back and occasionally kissed her lips or cheek. He couldn't stand to see her like this. Pushed so far over the edge into catatonia. Willow was out in the main part of the apartment talking to Anya about taking care of Tara. Silently, Angel leaned over and whispered, "I'm going to get you back. You can't hide in there forever. I love you."

Willow entered and laid out a few candles. Nothing elaborate, they were more atmospheric than anything. She lit them, took a deep breath, and then sat on the edge of Xander's bed.

"Willow, what do I do?" Angel asked.

"Just concentrate. See yourself entering Buffy's mind and I'll do the rest." Willow said.

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me."

"I do. It's just that this is the woman I love and if anything were to happen to her.."

"I know. Don't worry. Ready?"

"Yeah."

Angel concentrated on Buffy's unstaring eyes. He imagined walking through them and into her mind. A warmth came over him and then a bright flash of light and then he was standing next to Willow in a brightly lit living room. After looking around a bit at their new surroundings, Willow and Angel took a step, tentatively, and then began to wander through the house, slowly and curiously.

"Where are we?" Willow asked.

"This is Buffy's old house." Angel said with a smile. "This is the house she lived in most of her life."

"She lived here when she was called to be the Slayer."

"And when I first saw her."

"When you fell in love with her."

They heard a TV playing in the next room. They passed a few framed pictures on a mantle and entered the TV room to see a game show droning on without anyone watching. As they stared at the TV, they heard behind them.

"Hi Willow. Hi Angel!" Willow and Angel turned to see a bright-eyed, blonde six year-old girl staring unabashedly at them. She held a doll.

"Hi Buffy." Angel said.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Actually, we're, um, looking for you." Willow said.

"Do you like dolls?"

"Buffy, sweetie, what are you doing here?" Angel asked.

"I like it here."

"But, you know we need you. You have to come out."

"Why?"

"To be with your friends." Willow said.

"It's a big day for me."

Before Willow or Angel could respond, the front door opened.

Buffy took off. "Mommy! Daddy! You're back, you're back!"

Willow and Angel looked over at a younger looking Joyce and Hank. Joyce was carrying a little bundle in her arms.

"Hi Buffy." Joyce said.

"How's my girl?" Hank asked.

"Ready to meet your new baby sister?" Joyce asked. Young Buffy took a small step back, suddenly shy. She held herself.

"Oh c'mon now, Buffy.. she's nothing to be afraid of."

"Who's afraid?" Buffy asked.

"Don't you want to be the big sister?" Joyce asked.

"No, I wanna be the baby."

"Buffy.." Hank started.

"You're gonna pay more attention to her and forget all about me." Little Buffy turned and looked at Angel. "Doesn't she look funny? Like a wrinkly old grandpa." She turned back around and took a small whiff of the baby. "Mom, she smells. I know! You could still take her back! Take her back, please?"

Hank and Joyce just exchanged knowing looks. Joyce handed Young Buffy the baby. Young Buffy recoiled. "Here. Like this. Support the head. There you go. We're calling her 'Dawn.'" Joyce showed little Buffy how to hold a baby. Young Buffy got it immediately. Willow and Angel watched. Young Buffy's expression and body language changed instantly. She hugged the baby gently to her.

"I-I could be the one to look after her sometimes, if you need a helper. Mom? Can I take care of her?" Little Buffy asked.

"Yes, Buffy. You can take care of her."

Willow and Angel heard a noise behind them and they turned. Buffy (grown Buffy) stood alone in the Magic Box. Willow and Angel stepped towards her. Buffy, having cleaned up after a study session, absentmindedly placed one of Giles's books back on the shelf. She looked down for one brief moment as she did so, her face looking serious. Then she looked up again and the expression was gone. Another noise came from behind them and they turned again, expecting to see little Buffy. Instead, they saw Buffy through flames of a burning bonfire.

"O-kay" Willow said.

"This is when Buffy went to the desert on that Slayer quest. She told me about it when she got back to Giles and me." Angel said. Buffy and the primitive watched each other through the fire's flames.

Willow looked over and saw the primitive. "Hey. I know you. You're that first original Slayer who tried killing us all in our dreams. How've you been?"

"Death is your gift." The primitive said.

"Death is my gift?" Buffy asked.

"Wait. Death is her what?" Angel asked. "She didn't tell me that!"

"Death is your gift." The primitive said.

There was a flash and then they were in a darkened apartment. Willow looked around, not recognizing it. Angel knew exactly where they were and when it was.

"Uh.. Willow?" Angel asked.

"Yeah?"

"You might wanna, you know.. not.."

Willow walked a little further and stopped suddenly. "Oh my!"

"Go in there." Angel finished.

Willow turned away and looked at him with wide eyes. Angel knew what she had seen. He gave her a small smile and a little embarrassed shrug.

"This is when.. Her birthday." Willow said.

"Yeah."

"When you.."

"Yeah."

"And she.."

"Yeah."

"Why would she be here?"

"This is the first time she was completely happy." Angel walked over to the door and looked in. He smiled sadly. "Things went so horrible after this night."

"I remember."

"At least she knew I loved her."

Angel watched a little longer, lost in his own memories. Willow looked at him and when she looked back, there was the Magic Box again.

"Angel?"

"Yeah." He turned.

Buffy, exactly as before, stood alone in the Magic Box. Willow and Angel watched her. Buffy, having cleaned up after a study session, absentmindedly placed one of Giles's books back on the shelf. She looked down for one brief moment as she did so, her face looking serious. Then she looked up again and the expression was gone.

They both blinked and then were in the upstairs hallway of the Summers' home. Buffy was walking ahead of Willow and Angel. They hurried to catch up.

"Where you going?" Angel asked. They followed Buffy down the hall of the Summers home and into Joyce's room. "We can't keep following you around like this, Buffy. We have to go. You have to talk to us." Angel stopped next to Buffy and looked around. This was what the room looked like in Buffy's mind. The floor was made of grass. Everything was exactly as it used to be, except in the center of the room, where the bed used to be, there lay a mound of dirt and a headstone. Buffy just stood there, Willow and Angel beside her.

"I'm sorry." Willow said.

"Don't be. Death is my gift." Buffy said. She walked out.

"Yeah, I keep hearing that, but I'm not sure what it means." Angel said.

"It's really not that complicated."

"Not to you, maybe."

Buffy entered Dawn's room. Dawn sat on her bed, softly crying. Buffy sat next to Dawn, still talking to Willow and Angel. Her tone was offhand, casual. "It's just what I do." Buffy reached behind her and picked up one of Dawn's pillows. "C'mon, you guys have known me, what, how long? This is all I'm here for. It's what I am." She placed the pillow over Dawn's face and pushed Dawn down onto the bed, smothering her. Dawn struggled but Buffy ignored her completely, still talking to Willow and Angel.

"Buffy, stop. No, God, no. Stop!" Willow said.

"What?" Dawn batted at Buffy's arms uselessly. Slowly, the struggling got weaker. Then stopped as Dawn's arms stopped flailing and her body went limp beneath the pillow. "I keep telling you. I figured it out. This is my gift."

"Are you insane?" Angel asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Why the hell did you just smother your sister?"

"My gift."

Angel rolled his eyes and suddenly they were back in Buffy's old LA house. "Okay, now this is weird."

"Hi guys. What are you doing here?" Little Buffy asked.

"Actually, we're, um, looking for you. Here. Again." Willow said.

"Do you like dolls?"

"No. And I think we already deja'd this vu."

"You talk funny."

"Yes, as you'll tell me again when we're older, and in chem class."

"Buffy, what are we doing here?" Angel asked.

"Don't you like it here?" Little Buffy asked him.

"We don't have time."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Young Buffy ran from the table, excited, and ran to the front door. Willow was left holding the doll.

"We're home." Hank said.

"We're calling her 'Dawn.'" Joyce said.

"I-I could be the one to look after her sometimes, if you need a helper. Mom? Can I take care of her?" Little Buffy asked.

"Yes, Buffy. You can take care of her."

Angel took a step forward and they were back at his old apartment. "Damn it Buffy! Stop using this to make us back off!"

"I'm not." Buffy said behind him. She was walking down the upstairs hall again heading towards Dawn's room.

"Buffy, will you just stop a second and listen to me? You have to stop doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Killing Dawn."

"Why?"

Angel blocked her path while Willow moved behind her. "Because it never happened. You never killed your sister!"

"Angel, I did this."

"In your imagination! None of this is real, you're stuck in some kind of loop." Willow said.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about. Excuse me?" She moved Angel gently to the side and headed into Dawn's room.

"Why are you doing this?!?" Angel asked. "No. Buffy. Leave Dawn alone. What is this?"

"My gift. This is what I do."

"But I'm not talking about this, I'm talking about.." They walked through Dawn's door and ended up in the Magic Box. "This!" Angel pointed and grabbed Buffy's shoulders. They watched Buffy repeat the action of putting the book on the shelf over and over. "Right here, it happened. I know it's something small, but it's something. What?"

"Don't go there, Angel."

"I'm not! You're the one who keeps dragging us back here. And you wouldn't be doing that if you weren't trying to show us something."

"Do I?"

"Buffy, c'mon. It's your brain. Just tell me."

Willow walked over to the Buffy who repeatedly put the book back on the shelf and gestured to her. "What happened here?"

Bookshelf Buffy said, "This was when I quit."

"You did?"

"Just for a second. I remember I was in the Magic Shop. Reading."

"I put a book back for Giles." The Buffy with Angel said.

"Nothing special about it. And then, it hit me."

"What hit you?" Angel asked.

"I can't beat Glory." Buffy said.

"Glory's going to win." Bookshelf Buffy said.

"You can't know that." Angel said.

"I didn't just know it." Buffy said.

"I felt it. Glory will beat me." Bookshelf Buffy said.

"And in that second of knowing it.."

"I wanted it to happen."

"Why?" Angel asked a little hurt.

"I wanted it over. This is all.. all of it.. it's too much for me."

"I just wanted it over." Buffy said.

"If Glory wins, then Dawn dies." Bookshelf Buffy looked at Willow.

"I would grieve and people would feel sorry for me. But it would all be over. And I imagined what a relief that would be." Buffy watched Bookshelf Buffy put the book up. "I killed Dawn."

"Is that what you think?" Angel asked.

"My thinking it made it happen. Some part of me wanted it. So, in the moment Glory took Dawn.." Bookshelf Buffy said.

"I know I could have done something better. And I didn't. I was off by some fraction of a second." Buffy finished.

"And this is why.."

"I killed my sister."

"I think Spike was right, back at the gas station." Willow said. "Snap out of it!" she said harshly.

Both Buffys looked at her. "What?"

"I'm sorry. But all this.. it has a name. It's called guilt. It's a feeling, and it's important, but it's not more than that, Buffy. Buffys. You've carried the weight of the world on your shoulders since high school. I know you didn't ask for this. But you do it. Every day, and so you wanted out for one second, so what?"

"I got Dawn killed." Buffy said.

"Hello! Your sister: not dead yet! But she will be if you stay locked inside here and never come back to us."

"I don't think I can."

"Okay, unlike Glory, the Slayer is also human. You get to be. You feel everything you're doing and I admit, I have no idea how hard that must be, but you have to do it."

"And what if I can't?"

"Then I guess you're right. And you did kill your sister." Willow headed for the door to the Magic Box. Angel let Buffy go and followed.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

"Where you're needed." Angel said. He held out his hand to her. "Are you coming?" Buffy thought about it and watched herself put the book on the shelf. She gave Willow her hand. They exchanged a look. And suddenly Buffy jerked awake. Her eyes opened and she gulped in a big gasping breath of air. She looked to Angel, startled. She saw where she was and who she was with and began to sob. Angel pulled her to him and held her tightly as she cried. Willow silently left the room and left them to their privacy.



Giles, Xander, Anya, Tara, and Spike sat around the table in the Magic Box. Buffy, Angel, and Willow entered.

"You're back!" Giles said.

"Hear you found the ritual text." Buffy said.

"Something like that, yes."

"Did you know Ben is Glory?" Xander asked.

"So I'm told. What do we know?"

"Well, according to these scrolls, there is a way to stop Glory." Giles said. Buffy waited. "I'm afraid it.. Buffy. I've read these very carefully. There's not much margin for error. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Might help if you actually said it."

"Glory plans to open a dimensional portal by way of ritual bloodletting."

"Dawn's blood?"

"Yes. Once the blood is shed at a certain time and place, the fabric separating all realities will be ripped apart. Dimensions will pour into one another with no barriers to stop them.

Reality as we know it will be destroyed, and chaos will reign on Earth."

"So how do we stop it?"

"The portal will only close once the blood is stopped. And the only way for that to happen is.. Buffy, the only way is to kill Dawn."